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His council presidency faces test after concealed-weapon conviction
By Phil Trexler
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Wednesday, Dec 12, 2007
Now that Akron City Council President Marco Sommerville has put his gun charge behind him, his next challenge is winning re-election among his peers.
In the wake of his no-contest plea Tuesday, Sommerville may again face opposition in trying to keep the council leadership post he has held for eight years.
Council is to vote Monday on the presidency.
Sommerville easily fended off a coup attempt last year by at-large councilmen John Conti and Michael Williams.
On Tuesday, his foes on council contended the plea may hurt Sommerville's ability to lead. His supporters say Sommerville still has the sup
port of a majority on the council and will be re-elected.
''It will be interesting to see what happens,'' said Williams. ''Obviously, this is not a good thing, and obviously this incident has adversely impacted council. People hold us to a higher standard, so I do think it will be somewhat problematic for him.''
Ward 8 Councilman Bob Keith said he believes Sommerville will sail to re-election. The majority of council, he said, understands that Sommerville's arrest was the result of a mistake.
''I'd be shocked it he wasn't re-elected,'' Keith said. ''He's got my support, there's no question about it. He's been a very good leader.''
Sommerville, 55, was ordered to pay a $500 fine Tuesday after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor section of Ohio's concealed-weapon law.
The offense stems from his being stopped last month at the Akron-Canton Airport after an X-ray machine at a security checkpoint revealed a handgun in his briefcase.
Sommerville was convicted of failing to ''promptly inform'' law enforcement that he was licensed to carry the gun.
He was originally charged with a felony, but an assistant Ohio attorney general appointed to the case said that proving that Sommerville had knowingly carried the gun — a key element of the felony charge — would make prosecution difficult.
A felony conviction would have ended Sommerville's council career. He also could have been stripped of his mortician's license.
In a deal between prosecutors and Sommerville's attorneys, Bob Meeker and Michael Bowler, the council president avoided a grand jury hearing and pleaded no contest to a bill of information. In such instances, defendants do not dispute the facts presented by police and proceed directly to sentencing.
Sommerville never denied carrying the gun. Rather, he said he inadvertently took a briefcase containing it as he rushed from the airport parking lot to catch a shuttle that took him to the terminal.
In a typed statement given to reporters Tuesday, Sommerville said he accepted the plea ''to spare the city, my family and myself the ordeal of a trial on a felony charge of knowingly carrying a concealed handgun in an airport with the intent to carry it aboard an aircraft.''
Sommerville said he had no intention of taking the gun with him to New Orleans for a conference with other council members.
He was licensed to carry a gun and did so, he said, because of his work as a funeral director. He said he normally leaves his gun in his briefcase and in his car's trunk.
''It was not until after my briefcase was X-rayed that it dawned on me that the gun was still in it,'' he wrote in his statement.
He declined to comment after his hearing.
In addition to imposing the fine and stripping Sommerville of his license to carry a weapon for one year, Summit County Common Pleas Judge Elinore Marsh Stormer ordered his .38-caliber revolver destroyed.
''I hope it wasn't expensive,'' the judge said to Sommerville at the end of the hearing.
''It was,'' he replied.
Paul Scarsella, the assistant attorney general assigned the case because of Sommerville's ties to local prosecutors, said the sentence and plea deal are in line with punishment imposed on others. He said Sommerville could still face a civil fine imposed by federal authorities.
Sommerville had previously refused a misdemeanor plea offer shortly after he was charged last month in Barberton Municipal Court. Others arrested under similar circumstances have been allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and be fined without getting jail time, attorneys said.
''To be honest, looking at this case, I didn't feel we would be able to prove that he knowingly carried that firearm into the airport,'' Scarsella said. ''I believe he is being adequately punished for his behavior.''
Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com.
Now that Akron City Council President Marco Sommerville has put his gun charge behind him, his next challenge is winning re-election among his peers.
Get the full article here.
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